Ballroom History from 1800s till now (some major milestones)

Prior to the birth of Ballroom

1869 - 1920s: Hamilton Lodge Ball and the Harlem Renaissance

How everything started can be traced back in 1842, a fraternal organization of free Black men, The Philomathean Institute in NY, petitioned a Manchester England aligned lodge of American Odd Fellows for a dispensation to form their institute into a lodge of odd fellows. They were denied because they were Black. Peter Ogden, a Black sailor who was a member of the institute and a recent initiated member of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows in Liverpool, suggested they try again directly in England. Peter sailed to England and obtained permission to form the Philomathean Institute into the Philomathean Lodge #644 on March 1, 1843. By 1847 there were 22 lodges under Peter’s organization including the Hamilton Lodge #710 of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows which opened in February 1844 in Harlem, NY.

Rockland Palace · 280 West 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Avenues, New York, NY, USA

Every year in February, the Hamilton Lodge would give a reception to celebrate their anniversary. On the occasion of their 25th anniversary, they decided to give two events; one would be their normal reception for their members in February and the second event, a grand masquerade ball to welcome the general public to celebrate their anniversary and raise money. In March 1869, the Hamilton Lodge #710 of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows gave their first annual Masquerade and Civic Ball in Harlem at the Rockland Palace Banquet Hall & Casino. This is the first known ball on record in Harlem of men dressed as women aka The Hamilton Lodge Ball (1869).

March 6, 1886 - The first article about the Hamilton Lodge Ball - from "New York Freeman" - describe the event as "event of the season".

March 6, 1926 - from "New York Age"

March 5, 1927 - "The New York Age"

22 February 1930 - "The New York Age"

The growing freedom and expression of Black culture during Harlem Renaissance also fueled the burgeoning drag ball scene into the 1920s. The era not only allowed African American artists - from painters and authors to dancers and musicians - to experiment with and reinvent their crafts, it also saw popular Black artists experiences and explore gender, sex and sexuality like never before. At the same time, the Pansy Craze in New York created popular interest in drag performances. As a result of these two cultural phenomena, the Hamilton Lodge Ball dramatically increased in popularity, attracting up to 8,000 dancers and spectators at the peak of its popularity.

The poet Langston Hughes wrote, "During the height of the New Negro era and the tourist invasion of Harlem, it was fashionable for the intelligentsia and the social leaders of both Harlem and the downtown area to occupy boxes at this ball and look down from above at the queerly assorted throng on the dancing floor." The balls were racially integrated, and though New York State law criminalized cross-dressing, police officers worked at the balls to arrest any troublemakers.

Chad Heap, a history professor at George Washington University, stated, "It's pretty amazing just how widespread these balls were. Almost every newspaper article about them lists 20 to 30 well-known people of the day who were in attendance as spectators. It was a widely integrated part of life in the 1920s and 30s." Contemporaneous news accounts described Hamilton Lodge Ball as a "Scene of Splendor," with quotes such as, "The masculine women and feminine men, how are you going to tell the roosters from the hens?

Cootie Williams plays his trumpet in a crowded Harlem ballroom with Duke Ellington's band in the 1930s. The Harlem Renaissance produced groundbreaking contributions to the arts in the early 20th century. With the new music came a vibrant nightlife throughout the New York neighborhood.

A photograph of a parade organized by the United Negro Improvement Association, UNIA, in the streets of Harlem. One car displays a sign that reads 'The New Negro Has No Fear.' 

1920s - 1960s: The society view's of LGBTQ+ and The Pageant World

At the turn of the century, drag balls were growing in popularity, despite being deemed illegal and immoral by mainstream society. Thousands would take the risk to attend and participate. A moral reform organization, known as the Committee of Fourteen, periodically investigated the balls. In 1916, the Committee released a report detailing the scandalous behavior they witnessed. The report described the scene as filled with “Phenomenal male perverts in expensive frocks and wigs, looking like women.” That committee released 130 reports describing its visits, demanding such perversion must desist. By the 1920-30’s the balls begin to get major press in all the newspapers bringing more visibility. What were once known as the Masquerade and Civic Balls were now dubbed “The faggots balls” by the Black newspapers and the general public after it became well known that these were frequented by LGBT people. However, straight artists, writers and other ball appreciators from outside the LGBT community also frequented these events because of their renowned reputation.

During the mid-1930s, the Great Depression ignited a severe backlash against the LGBTQ+ community. The NYPD, once officiating the balls in the 1920s, shifted gears and began arresting attendees for charges like indecency, vagrancy, and female impersonation. As societal views hardened, a sex-crime panic emerged, painting gay men and lesbians as threats to societal norms. Despite this oppressive atmosphere, the 1936 ball saw an impressive turnout of about 5,500 attendees.

The Harlem Lodge hosted its final ball on February 26, 1937, a night marked by "a grand jamboree of dancing, lovemaking, display, rivalry, drinking, and advertisement." Approximately 1,000 of the 5,000 attendees competed in the costume contest. The following year, the Hamilton Lodge Ball came to an end, with The New York Age capturing its closure with the headline, "Fifteen Arrested By Police as 'Fairies' Turn 'Em On."

The end of Hamilton Lodge Ball

Even though the Hamilton Lodge Ball ended, its impact went through to the pageant world, where you can find a lot of drag queens participating other drag balls and the pageant competition. And with anything became interracial, prejudices were at play. Judges generally favored white, Eurocentric features, and this is highly influenced by the pageant industry. "It was our goal then to look like white women" said by Pepper LaBeija. For women of color, lightening their skin with makeup was the norm for a chance at winning. And a black transwomen called Crystal LaBeija was no exception.

In her early years, Crystal worked, competed, and made a name for herself during the 1960s Manhattan drag circuit. She was a fur fanatic who was an epitome of glamour and poise. Ultimately, she went on to win the title “Miss Manhattan”, an achievement which would land her a spot in future affluent pageants.

February 13th, 1967: THE MOMENT

Unbeknownst to her, she would make history on a cold Monday evening - February 13th, 1967. On this night, the Miss All-America Camp Beauty Contest was held at New York City's Town Hall. Announced as the third runner up & coming in fourth place, Crystal unleashes her long overdue rage at judges and walks off stage. In that moment, she realized the standard of beauty was solely based on race. The winner was announced as a much younger, less than-glamorous White woman. The unforgettable events of the evening would be captured on film in the Iconic 1968 documentary The Queen.​

Ballroom was born (1967 - 1979)

The LaBeija Ball

Sick and tired of being overlooked, Crystals good friend Lottie convinced her to start her own pageant. Crystal was the pioneer of civil rights, equality, and integration of pageants. In 1972, Crystal & Lottie LaBeija presents: “The 1st Annual House of LaBeija Ball” at Up the Downstairs Case in Harlem, NY. It was the first of its kind to welcome those from their community, people who looked like them, people who lived like them, people who were them – people of color! The House of LaBeija is the first ballroom house and was the first to host benefits to raise awareness during the 1980s HIV/AIDS epidemic.

House & Ball

At the time, many queer people were rejected by their biological families, hence together, they formed an alternative type of family called "House". These houses function like families, with someone taking on the role of a parent (Mother/Father), providing a safe space and love that their biological families couldn't. They learned and grew together, figuring how to express themselves in and out of the competitions.

This House culture became Ballroom culture, where the houses would compete against one another in a function called "Ball" to find out which house was the best one in each category.

The Category history (1970s - 2000s)

Writer note: this is just about HISTORY, rather than talk about the rules or how they has evolved. More detailed article will be released soon. When that happens, I will attach the link to that article here

The turning point (80s - 90s)

More and more people come to the ball

House creation

*this section is from

Ballroom in music (Deep in Vogue, Vogue by Madonna)

Ballroom on main screen (T.V. Transvestite, Paris is Burning)

The Kiki Scene Origin

Writer note: This section is from 

In 1989, GMHC, an AIDS service organization started The House of Latex as an HIV prevention program. Pioneer Albert Santana (Mother of the house of Latex and house of Evisu) began using Latex office as a safe space/gathering for ballroom inspired young LGBTQIA+. They would come to hang out, vogue and battle but also partake in HIV+ STD&STI educational trainings and outreach programs which culminated at yearly retreats.

In the 90s, Pioneer Selvin>MC Debra would commentate at a small venue in NYC, that held mini balls during the time, called the club house. Here, they embrace a more fun & carefree energy ballroom from the larger ballroom events which attracted younger ballroom participants. This is also where MC Debra would create Kiki houses which included House of Macaella, The Ebony Untouchables, Philly's House of Snowbunnies. Kiki houses were simply based off of fun, comedic and spontaneous connections, moments & jokes between ballroom inspired members who shared interests/talents & wanted to relieve the pressure of mainstream competitiveness & daily life pressures

Ballroom in 2000s till now

What happened in the 2000s?

The Age of Social Media

The Bloom of the Kiki Scene

Writer note: this part below is from IG @thekikiscene by Icon @sajuann

In the Early 2000s, HIV infection rates were rising among Black/Brown + Latino queer youth. So in 2001, MHRA began funding + managing $132M dollars including 132 Community based organization through the Ryan White CARE act. However, many orgs struggled to reach youth of color labeled as MSM (Men who sleep with Men) and didn't meet the required numbers to take advantage of the money geared towards this investment. To address and fix this issue, a 1 year long training program to develop community health specialist called TEACH was created where Pioneer Tyhierry and Aisha were selected to take part

2002/2003 - Due to the funding and resources behind the TEACH program, numerous non-profit org followed behind it. However, there was a lot of push-back from outside organizations to expand ballroom programming. Aisha & Tyhierry developed an intervention that expanded culturally specific programs to reach youth in the Non-Profit Sector to break through the bureaucracy. Pioneer Luna, HIV Awareness + Prevention Leaders and Specialist along with Tyhierry & Aisha, would then grow Arbert's seed into the developed & structured space and community we know as the Kiki Scene

More films and shows about ballroom

Author's note

That... was a lot. It took me way longer than I expected just to compile all of these information into one page. There are still so many topics surrounding ballroom that I can't bring everything into one singular article.

Hope this helpful for you. If you like it you can follow me on IG @iori.mizrahi and If you have any additional piece of information or there are incorrect information, please DM me at that Instagram account. Love to talk with you all.

Original Sources

1869 - 1920s: Hamilton Lodge Ball and the Harlem Renaissance

1. https://queermusicheritage.com/nov2014hamilton.html
2. https://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/harlem-renaissance
3. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/b8515n57g
4. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/16910cf0-7cf4-0133-46b1-00505686d14e
5. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/6t053g18d

1920s - 1960s: The society view's of LGBTQ+ and The Pageant World

1. https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/6t053g18d
2. https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2023/02/a-drag-ball-in-harlem-was-one-of-the-biggest-social-events-in-1920s-new-york/ 
3. https://www.royalhouseoflabeija.com/history
4. https://www.swervmagazine.com/entertainment-2/ballroom-americas-untold-stories/ 

February 13th, 1967: THE MOMENT

1. https://www.vogue.com/article/oral-history-ballroom-pride-2023
2. https://www.royalhouseoflabeija.com/history
3. Youtube Video - Crystal LaBeija's epic read from The Queen (1968) – "I have a RIGHT to show my color, darling!"
4. https://marlowlafantastique.weebly.com/gallery-2.html
5. https://sites.utexas.edu/ransomcentermagazine/2020/06/08/the-queen/
6.